Let me start off by saying I’m a total jersey nerd. I have to believe that one of the big reasons I got into hockey as a little two year old lad was the awesome, bright, crazy unis of the 1990’s. That love has followed me into adulthood, and I have built up a mighty fine collection of some beautiful jerseys over the years (and some pretty ugly ones too).

One of my biggest gripes with the current state of the game today is how many teams have absolutely shocking uniform designs and decisions. I would assume these franchises are paying for top-quality business consultation and design people, yet we continue to see insane decisions like the Flames and Capitals just made recently when Adidas took over, to ditch the beautiful retro looks they had, and go with plain, pipe-y, pyjama-looking trash, while 99.9% our jaws dropped at how such a decision could be made. Is there some ugly jersey conspiracy that we’re all totally oblivious to?

But alas, we don’t have any say in which jerseys our teams will don. That won’t stop us from dreaming! So I decided to do a series on the best jerseys that each franchise has worn. You may agree with some, you may think I’m crazy. Either way, let me know by tweeting me at @BLTJay!

Ok, now that that’s out of the way… Damn the Wild have had some nice unis over their short existence! Even their ugliest jersey is not that bad:

… Would be better if they only wore it on Christmas though.

Their current home jersey is a total beaut though. It features one of the best logos in the league (is that a bear, or is that a wild forest skyline? It’s both!!!). The green, cream and red look incredible together. It’s a perfect blend of classic, modern, and unique.

I always thought that I would end up picking their awesome third jersey from the past decade. It was one of the first to make cream prevalent on a jersey, and has inspired many looks (every beer league has a few) because of it.

But when I compare it to the current green jersey, it’s not quite as good in comparison. The wordmark is great, and one of the only nice ones of its kind (*cough* Calgary and Buffalo). But in comparison to the primary logo, that one is just too good to beat. I am also not a fan of the piping yoke on the shoulders, and think it would be better without. Maybe the numbers could use some sort of outline too? Maybe not…

I like the way this uniform implements the perfect amount of red accents, it feels much more balanced. I would prefer if the middle stripe went all the way around the jersey I think, but I would have to see it to know for sure.

So… What’s your favourite Minnesota Wild look ever? The originals? Maybe the recent Stadium Series look (which was probably the best Stadium Series jersey ever, by the way). Let me know in the comments, or tweet me at @BLTJay!